The Close-of-Service reception for EC69 was held yesterday. It was a nice event with good attendance and good food (Chinese). The first to leave goes in mid-July, and then the rest will depart sometime between then and the end of August. Once the 6 EC69’ers are gone, there will be only 13 PCV’s remaining on Antigua. EC73 is scheduled to arrive in the Caribbean about then, but there are only 16 trainees total in that group and none of them will be coming to Antigua. We don’t expect to get any more volunteers here until next spring, coinciding with EC70’s departure.

When Diana leaves at the end of August, I will be the only white person living south of Urlings. Not that everyone realized that there were 2 of us… Diana is very active in the Anglican Church and quite well known down south. More than once I’ve been walking down the road and heard called out to me, “Sister Diana, Sister Diana!” It’s easy to see how people could confuse us, especially from a distance. We’re approximately the same age, we both have dark hair – ok, mine is graying and it’s also longer, but I always wear it pulled back or up, so that’s not so obvious, and she may be a little thinner than I, but again, not something you would necessarily notice unless you saw us standing right next to each other. Today though, I was out running (yes, running – yea!) and a boy standing in front of his house raised his hand in a wave to me as I passed and said, “Sarah”. Ok, now Sarah is probably 20 years younger than me, much thinner, very pretty, plus she lives on the north side of the island. I don’t know why he thought she would be running down here in Old Road, but regardless… I guess I could be flattered that he mistook me for her, but honestly, I think it was just a case of “we all look alike”!

Avocados are back in the grocery store! I haven’t seen them for months. Caribbean avocados are not the same as the ones we typically get in California. These are smooth skinned and are much larger. The ones in St. Lucia were the size of footballs! Antigua’s are smaller, but still get quite big; I try to buy the smallest ones I can find, otherwise they go bad before I can finish them. Fruit selection here is very seasonal. If it’s not in season, you just won’t be able to buy it at any price, with the exception of a few items that they have to import from the States like apples. When things are in season though, they’re everywhere. You can’t walk down the sidewalks in St. John’s these days because they’re crowded with old ladies selling mangoes. Mangoes are so plentiful right now it hardly makes sense to pay for them. The neighbors behind me gave me several off their tree, and then just as I had finished those, Diana’s neighbor gave me several from his. Papayas are about the same – as I was walking up my front steps after a swim this afternoon, my neighbor calls out to me, “I’m sending something over for you” and she handed her son a bag to carry over to me and in it was a big, ripe papaya. Too much fruit is really not a problem for me though. Shortly after moving in I bought a blender, so if the fruit is getting too ripe, or I just have too much of it, I chop it up, put it in the freezer, and enjoy it later in a tropical fruit smoothie!

Just completed an “intensive” computer workshop where we met for 4 hours a day, everyday for the past 2 weeks. Jim and I split teaching duties while the other one of us assisted, and we covered the full Office suite, plus Windows and Internet. Our students were mostly staff persons from the Ministry of Education, plus one teacher from the State College and one from Urlings Primary school. While a few of the students came and went and would disappear for days at a time, we had a core group who showed up every day and were keenly interested in as much as we could teach them. Towards the end of the last day of class, the Minister’s secretary disappeared, then came back in a little while later carrying two huge fruit baskets. Once class was over, several of them stood up in turn to say how much they enjoyed the class, how much they got out of it, and to comment on how patient and dedicated Jim and I were, then presented us each with one of the baskets. It was really quite touching. The complete novices as well as the more experienced students all said they learned a lot, so that was very good to hear.

Prior to the workshop Sylvanie and Yvette, two of our students from the Cultural Division, mentioned wanting to get together for a beach picnic. Since we had this class coming up, we circled the 27th on the calendar and agreed to do it afterwards. Both of them have always been very nice to us. When I commented that I was having trouble finding a skirt for work, Sylvanie offered to make one for me. It ended up costing a grand total of EC$ 11.50 for the fabric and zipper, or less than US$ 4.00. So when Sylvanie called me up on Monday to ask if we were still on, I said, “sure”. Yvette arranged to pick Jim and I up in town, then the plan was to drive out to the beach, then over to Sylvanie’s for lunch. Yvette was waiting for me right on time at the scheduled meeting place; we picked up Jim on the way and headed out to Half Moon Bay, a beautiful beach on the eastern shore of the island.

On the way there we stopped at a roadside restaurant owned by her sister to drop off some Soursop and say hello. Then we stopped at another sister’s house where Sylvanie and her son were waiting for us. Didn’t go in, just shouted from the roadside in typical Antiguan fashion for her sister to come out to her front porch so they could talk. Yvette got an earful because she has two cell phones and didn’t answer either one and her sister wanted her to bring something out for her from town. Too late. Then her sister told Yvette that her daughter (Yvette’s) was inside the house. Yvette called for her from the car, “Nesstie!”, her sister answered, “She busy.” Yvette: “Nesstie!”, sister: “She busy.” This went on 4 or 5 times. Her sister said, “Call again.” Yvette: “Ness--, sister (interrupting): “She busy.” Finally her sister went in and got Yvette’s daughter to come out to the porch. Yvette saw her and said, “Nesstie, you bleaching?” Nesstie: “No mama.” Her daughter is much fairer skinned than she is. She asks again, “You bleaching?” “No mama.” They talked for a little longer, and then we were off to the beach.

It was a beautiful day, but hot, so the water felt really good. We swam for a while, went for a walk, then lounged in the shade and ate some snacks that Sylvanie had brought. After leaving the beach, we drove over and they talked our way into the Mill Reef Club. This is an exclusive membership community that takes up a good portion of the eastern shore of the island. It’s like a country club where you have to be a member to live there, and you have to know someone to become a member. The story goes that they once turned away Donald Trump when he attempted to anchor his yacht offshore and use their facilities, which prompted him to vow never to return to Antigua. There are lots of stories like that around here, and you never are really sure how much truth there is in them… Anyhow, I’ve seen it from sea, but have never been inside. Actually there was really nothing to see. The road that runs through it is lined with thick bushes and plants, so there is no view, all you see is an occasional signpost with a name marking a driveway that heads off into the bush. We did pull down one driveway where Yvette said she used to work as a kid, “I hope they don’t shoot us”, she said! No one was home, they’re probably off-island for the season. They also stopped and picked some plants as we were driving through – I don’t think Antiguans ever buy plants. They all seem to be very plant-savvy and wherever we went they would take clippings or pull entire plants up out of the ground. A local who worked there saw the plants in the back of Sylvanie’s truck and suggested that we put them in Yvette’s jeep, out of view of the security guard at the gate. I told Yvette, “First you’re going to get us shot, and now you’re going to get us arrested!” Well, we escaped undetected.

Next, we’re off to Sylvanie’s. She lives in the country out east, in a nice wall house up on a hill. She has a beautiful view of the countryside and a good-sized plot of land around her house. She had prepared for us a traditional West Indian meal of Ducana (a sweet dumpling type thing wrapped and baked in Seagrape leaves), Fungi (a cornmeal dish), boiled Paw Paw (green papaya), Cassie (cactus sliced in thin strips), and Salt fish (I didn’t have any of that), with Ginger Beer to drink (not actually beer, it’s made by soaking Ginger in water and adding sugar). It was all quite good. We were joined for lunch by a childhood friend of Yvette’s who now lives in England, but was in Antigua visiting. As we were readying to leave, Sylvanie offered Jim and I each a stalk of sugar cane. I’ve seen how they prepare these; guys will pull up near the market with a truck load of cane sugar and stand out back cutting and hacking them with their cutlasses (machete) until all of the bark is removed, then they slice them into 6-8 inch pieces and sell them by the bag full. I have neither a cutlass nor the aptitude to peel them, so I passed on the offer, but Jim took one.

On the way home, we stopped by Yvette’s parents’ house, this time we actually got out of the car and walked inside rather than shouting from the roadside. Said hello to her mother and father, then off again. As we drove over Fig Tree Drive, we passed an old man picking mangoes off trees by the side of the road. I didn’t get the impression that they knew him, but Yvette stopped and her friend told him to give her two of the mangoes, which he did, then she leaned over and handed one each to Jim and I. Then we were off again as Yvette drove us all home.

It was, in many ways, a very special day. Other than my homestays and Peace Corps arranged outings, this was the first time that I have been invited into the home of a local in the entire time that I’ve been here. And meeting all the family and friends – everyone was so welcoming and friendly; I haven’t had a similar day or felt like this since we were in St. Lucia.